When you open a knitting machine it does look like Spock's brain at first. Don't be discourage. Read the instruction manual, join a guild, check out support groups on Ravelry. There is help starting here.

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Punch Cards!

When I first heard about using punch cards with knitting machines I thought how wonderful. Now that I've tried to use them they just make me say, "Grrrr!"

I took my Studio 700 to my machine knitting meeting about a year or so ago and said, "Help, I can't get the punch card to work following the instruction manual ." A gal there has the Studio 700 and she got me up and running. I came home and decided to give it a try on my Toyota 650 bulky and have never really got it working.

I sat down last night with the instruction manual and worked through it step by step. Setting each knob in the correct manner. Making sure the carriage was going in the correct directions. What I got was something that would make a spider shake their head in shame.

So, that is my new mission. I'm going to become a punch card expert before I pick my knitting machine and throw it across the room. :D My book talks about things like "use card 1" or "use card 2" and I don't even know if I have the right cards. One of them has a teddy bear on it and I know the tuck pattern isn't asking for that card.

I going to learn how to use the punch card mechanism reliably and do swatches for my cards.

1 comment:

I have a punchcard machine that I haven't used yet. I have been reading the manual & don't understand a word it says!! My machine is the clone of the Brother 860 machine but made with 272 needles instead of the normal 200. It has been a long time since I've used a punchard so it is like starting over with MK. Keep us posted on your progress & 'Good Luck"!!